Stair-carpet fastener.



. 110.854.364.' 1 PATBNTEDMAYza,19o7.

' W. M. ABBOTT.

STAIR CARPET PASTENER. y PPPP lo'ATxoN FILED Aue; 25, 1905. nmmwrm11.111. 14, 1901.

UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

WARREN M. ABBOTT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STAIR-CARPET FASTENER.

N o. 854,864. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 28, 1907.

Application filed August 25,1905. RenewedMarch 14,1907. Serial No.362,411.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WARREN M. ABBOTT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident in the city and county of Philadelphia, State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new'and useful Improvement in Stair-CarpetFasteners, of which the following is a specification,- reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which [o Figure 1 illustrates anelevation of a section of stairway with carpet thereon held in place bymy improved device Fig. 2 illustrates a vertical sectional view of twotreads, with interposed riser, in a stairway, showing carpet heldthereto by my device,- Fig. 3 illustrates a perspective view of theparts composing my device dismembered.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a device whereby the carpet,or other cover- 2o ing for stairways, may be quickly and easily laidupon the stairway and held firmly in place and readily removedtherefrom, without the employment of tacks, rosettes, rods, or otherdevices heretofore commonly used,

2 5 some of which are diflicult and inconvenient to apply and othersexpensive.

he device embodies two parts, each of which are strong, vsimple andeconomical in construction and are, or may be integral by 3o themselves,so that displacement of any part is impossible. These two parts areadjustable relative to each other, whereby they may be in a momentadapted to stairways in which the risers are of different height or 3 5the thickness of the treads different.

As shown in Fig. 3, the device comprises two parts. The rsty is the partwhich I call the casing, the second, the part which I call the extensionpiece. The casing is shown 4o at A. It comprises a piece of metal,preferably bronze, brass, or equivalent material, the edges of which arebent in such manner as to form two side flanges B, B, each of which hasa supplemental flange C, which are bent over inwardly into the center ofthe casing, in other words into the channel formed by the two sideflanges B, B. These parts C, C, have slots D, D, cut through them, whichare, or may be of the so-called 5o bayonet joint form, that is to say, acomparatively narrow opening or notch E, which extends to the edge ofthe part C terminates in a somewhat enlarged recess or opening F. Thereare a series of these bayonet joint re- 5 5 cesses or slots in each ofthe turned over parts O, O, and they are spaced somewhat closelytogether, so that all requisite adjustment can be secured.

A projection or point G, made sufficiently sharp to serve the purpose,is attached to and projects beyond the lower end of the casingA.

The extension piece a, is, or may be in general constructionsubstantially the same as the part A, that is to say, it has bent overflanges or side pieces b, b, an upwardly projecting point c and twolaterally extending fulcra or trunnions d, d, at the lower end. Thiswhole structure is made of such size that with the exception of thelaterally proj ecting fulcra d, d, it will fit easily within the `turnedover edges O, O, of the casing A, so that the fulcra d, d, can beentered into any of the bayonet joint slots F, and be pivotallysupportedtherein, sol that the point c of the extension piece may bedistanced from the point G of the casing as the height of the riser orthe thickness of the tread of the stairway may require.

trated in Figs. 1 and 2, in which A illustrates the edges of the treadof the stairway and B', B', the risersthereof, and O the carpet thereon.

D is one of the baluster spindles and E the hand rail.

The carpet is first laid'over the stairs and ,ner Thereupon theextension piece of my device is adjusted and pivotally connected to thecasing as the height of the step may require. Thereupon the lower end ofthe casing is placed against the carpet near its edge and pressed backagainst the riser opposite it. The' extension piece is then, while thedevice is flexed upon itself, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,likewise placed against the carpet near its edge under the nosing of thenext step above. Thereupon suitable pressure being applied to the partsin their then condition opposite the point of their pivotal connection,the parts will be pressed forwardly against the riser or rather againstthe carpet which covers the rise served that pressure applied underthese circumstances and in the manner stated will cause the device toact somewhat after the fashion of toggle joints in mechanics, so thatthe points c and G will be forced through the carpet and into the nosingof the step above and the tread of the step below respectively, and thatthe power will very greatly increase as the parts approach more and morea It will be ob-` The operation of the device is well illussnuglyadjusted to the steps in'the usual man- IIO zo the following:

straight line, so that the increased resistance of the pointsas theypenetrate the wood will be readily overcome. The pivotal connectionbetween the extension piece vand the casing is somewhat eccentric to theaxial line of the casing, so that when the parts are pressed fully backagainst the riser, they pass somewhat beyond the center, or in otherwords, somewhat beyond the point at which their axial lines areparallel. Consequently there is no tendency on the part of the parts toswing back again on the contrary, the greater the pressure .exerted upon-them the more securely they lwill hold.

lt will of course be understood that two of my fastening devices arerequired 4at each step of the stairway, or at least two shouldpreferably be used.

Among the advantages secured by me are rThe extreme simplicity of thedevice, the ease with whichit can beapplied, no skill being required inso doing, the rapidity with `which lthe work of laying the stair carpetas well as its removal, lmay bei-effected, the handsome appearance vofthe device and the security with which the carpet is held, and a specialfeature .is `the fact that the imperforate casing secretes all of themechanical parts, that is .to say, the trunnions on 3o the extensionpiece and the bayonet slots in the inturned parts C of the casing inwhich I the trunnions operate, are not observable from the exterior,onthe contrary, thedevice presents a smooth, finished and handsomeappearance, which vis exceedingly desirable in a structure of thischaracter and there is, moreover, nothing upon the exterior surfacewhich will catch and tear the cloth, duster,

orother utensil used in cleaning the stairs, or the clothing of ladiesascending or descending them.

It will be obvious to those who are familiar with this art thatalterations may be made in. the device without departing from theessentials thereof. I therefore do not limit myself to the details shownand described.

I claim.

1. In a stair carpet fastener the combinationof ahollow casing, thesides whereof are provided with 'inturned and slotted plates, and anextension piece adapted to enter between the inturnedv plates andprovided with laterally projecting trunnions which engage 4in theslotsof said plates, the easing and extension piece being each providedwith a longitudinally extending point.

2. In a stair carpet fastener the combination of a hollow casing, thesides whereof are provided with inturned and bayonet slotted plates, theenlarged end of the slots being eccentric to the 'axial line of thecasing, an extension piece adapted to enter between the inturned platesand provided with laterally projecting trunnions adapted to enter theslots in the inturned plates and rest in the enlarged terminal openingsthereof, the easing and the extension ypiece being cach prol vided witha longitudinally extending point.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WARREN M. ABBOTT.

Witnesses:

F. M. DoNs'rAox, PHILIP F. FEINBERG.

